Permian Basin rig count rises by two

The rig count in the Permian Basin increased by two the week ending Friday, the latest count by Baker Hughes shows, with 435 rigs active in the region.

Nationally, the oil and gas rig count increased by three to a total of 978 rigs. A year ago, 754 rigs were active. The count shows that 799 rigs sought oil, an increase of one from the previous week, and 179 explored for natural gas, an increase of two from the previous week. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May of 2016 at 404.

The regional benchmark Plains-West Texas Intermediate Posting ended Friday at $60 per barrel, up $2 from last week. National benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $63.55 per barrel, up $1.87 from last week.

ON THE NET: Baker Hughes rig count.